Schurrle: 'Fulham need to dig deep'

The newly-promoted side had been tipped for big things after spending over £100m in the summer, but a dismal start to the season means they currently sit bottom of the English top flight with 16 games of the season gone.

Speaking following the 4-1 thumping at the hands of Manchester United on Saturday, Schurrle insisted that the talent in the Fulham squad counts for nothing if they don't work hard.

"If you don't work hard, all the talent doesn't help. We know we are a talented squad and we know we can play some football," he explained.

"But when you come here to Old Trafford or when you play at Anfield or whatever, you need to work hard, you need to be defensively a unit and as well a little bit of luck and today we didn't have that."

Fulham's poor start to the season cost manager Slavisa Jokanovic his job, with Claudio Ranieri being parachuted in to replace the Serb.

Despite having the worst defence in the division to contend with, Schurrle is backing the Italian to guide Fulham to safety.

"Claudio Ranieri knows the Premier League very well and he knows how to win games," he insisted.

"He knows how to play, and he knows that we have to be compact, we have to be solid, we have to defend with all 10 men sometimes.

"We are still getting used to it because it's a lot of tactics, a lot of defensive work because at the moment we need it.

"We need a clean sheet somehow to get some confidence in our defending and that's what we're trying to do."